Along with the generosity of the act of gift giving, part of the fun experienced by the giver and recipient is the surprise about the gift itself. In particular, the giver enjoys selecting a gift that will surprise the recipient, and the recipient enjoys receiving something they did not expect.
This ‘fun of the unknown’ aspect of the gifting experience is greatly enhanced through the practice and tradition of wrapping gifts before they are presented to their intended recipients. When someone receives a gift wrapped item, they immediately know they have received a gift of some sort, but their curiosity intensifies as they wonder what might be inside!
Gift wrapping traditionally employs thin sheets of paper having a decorative print, cut to size carefully, folded over the edges of a present, and taped onto itself. The act of gift wrapping is relatively easy, and the average person can achieve reasonably neat results when square or rectangular prism shaped boxes or objects are wrapped. An irregularly shaped gift with non-orthogonal edges, however, can be extremely difficult to neatly wrap.
In recent years, the practice and tradition has been somewhat modified through the use of “gift bags”. Gift bags are generally heavy paper bags, not unlike paper grocery store bags, except coated and printed to be attractive or to bear some festive message or decoration. The gift bag itself does not fully conceal the gift, which is visible at the top opening, unless covered by tissue paper or the like. While the gift bag may sometimes be reused, at most it can only be reused a couple of times. Because it is made of paper, gift bags quickly wrinkle, giving them a used appearance. In addition, gift bags require careful handling. Once they are holding gifts, they generally cannot be stacked in the way that wrapped gifts are often stacked for transport, or for placement under a Christmas tree. Gift bags are also easily torn or damaged—giving them a used appearance even when they are only being used for the first time!
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.